


You are light and everyday we get closer to you.

by IrisofParadise



Series: Domestic AU [9]
Category: Black Widow (Comics), Daredevil (Comics), Daredevil (TV), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Adoption, Domestic, Fluff and Angst, M/M, OC children - Freeform, OFC - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-11
Updated: 2020-01-10
Packaged: 2020-12-09 08:43:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 10,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20991995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IrisofParadise/pseuds/IrisofParadise
Summary: In which Vladimir and Matt are going through months of paperwork and headaches in order to adopt their daughter.





	1. Paperwork is datenight now.

**Author's Note:**

> This particular fic has been in the works for... like three years now? Still working on Sasha's, Nika's, and Jack's but this one was started first and is getting extremely long so I've decided to start cutting it into sections. I still have yet to finish Louder Than Thunder so there are things that will be referenced here that I have not gotten around to finishing in that fic. One thing in particular is I do have Vladimir having a biological son, named Nick, who was adopted from Moscow at a young age when Vladimir was sixteen by a Jewish American family who lives in Manhattan. I am going to eventually get to writing that but for now, yeah... ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ it's a work in progress. So Nick, Ekaterina (Vladimir's mom), and Catherine (Nick's mom) are referenced.

** _“The Lord says, before you were formed, I knew you._ ** **** _  
_ ** _And before you were born, I set you apart.” _ ** ** _  
_ ** **** **_\- Jeremiah 1:5_**

**~oOo~**

**_Hell's Kitchen, NY_  
Vladimir & Matt's apartment  
September, 2018  
**Adopting a child proved to be a headache. No, not even just a headache but a full on migraine. And Vladimir found himself growing more and more frustrated with the process the further on he and Matt continued filling out the paperwork and it had barely been a month since they made it official that they were adopting.

In truth the only thing that kept Vladimir from tearing the paperwork and throwing it to the floor in a rage and yelling quits was when he would glance up and see Matt looking just as tired as he felt but still running his fingers over the papers, a frown on his face as he looked completely and utterly focused. 

A side glance to the picture of the little toddler clipped to the manilla folder would also make Vladimir pause and his annoyance would almost completely flicker out.

Only almost though. 

She was a cute little girl, this much was undeniable. She was nearly a year and a half old and he and Matt were hoping to have all of the necessary paperwork finished by the time her birthday hit in November so that she could be home with them. They would be flying out to Kazan in a couple months to finally meet her in person and Matt was more than just excited. The little girl had auburn colored hair that looked to be more brown than anything. A light tan to her skin. Brown eyes. It was her eyes and hair that had made Vladimir freeze on her picture. Doe brown eyes and hair that matched Matt’s in perfect color. She looked too small for her age but Vladimir didn’t know if that was because of the pictures or because she really was so small. 

He hated her name; Märyäm. That would be changed the moment they were able to, he thought to himself, absentmindedly petting Zvezdochka, who was lying between him and Matt, snoring softly as they read over the paperwork, on the head. Well, once they were able to settle on a name.

Matt liked the little girl’s name, had grinned and said it fondly when Vladimir had picked the girl’s file. Vladimir was almost, just almost, slightly offended that he'd pronounced the little Tatar girl's name properly but still couldn't pronounce his. But Vladimir also half suspected that Matt pronounced his name wrong purposefully as Matt often would say Vladimir's name correctly when they were in bed together.

He wasn't wrong.

Currently he was tired though. Both exhausted physically and just mentally tired due to all of the paperwork. He’d read over the same line for half an hour now and still couldn’t fully comprehend what he was reading. Vladimir was about to tell Matt that he wanted to go to bed, pick this back up in the morning maybe, and just sleep, but Matt beat him to the punch with a different type of proposal.

“Want to go to McDonald’s?” Matt asked, sounding tired but clearly wanting to fight the urge to sleep.

Zvezdochka sleepily opened her eyes at the sound of Matt’s voice but didn’t get up.

Vladimir raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

Matt shrugged as he stacked his papers together neatly. It was clear his mind was already made up and Vladimir could either go with him or just stay home. “I need coffee-”

“It is three in the morning, why would you want to get coffee? Especially when we could just make it here?” Vladimir interrupted, making a face at the other man.

He was promptly ignored as Matt continued speaking. “- and I want a biscuit. You want to come with me or not?”

Vladimir took one more glance down at his own papers before agreeing with Matt. He needed a break too. A break then a nap. “Da, let's go.”

Zvezdochka yawned loudly and curled back up, eyes closing before the front door to the apartment was even shut. 

**~oOo~**

The two sit across from each other in a booth in the near empty restaurant and eat in silence for all of five minutes before Vladimir is blurting, “All this paperwork, I don't like it.”

Matt pauses, biscuit held just a few inches from his mouth, before nodding in understanding. “Me either. But we're so close to being done with it. And we'll get to visit Märyäm-” He's promptly cut off by Vladimir's over exaggerated groan. Matt raises an eyebrow, corners of his mouth fighting to turn into a smirk. “If you hate her name so much, help me pick one to change it to.”

The little girl’s name had become a long argument of sorts between them. 

Vladimir made a face as he popped the lid off his latté and stirred it, mixing the coffee and whipped cream together. “I will,” he muttered, glaring at the coffee as if it had personally offended him. “_Märyäm _,” he sneered, “is stupid name. Ugly.”

“I like it,” was Matt's only, very dry, response.

“I know. You have no taste,” Vladimir muttered back under his breath knowing full well that the other man could hear him.

Matt only rolled his eyes in exasperation. Then after a few moments said, “Katherine? With a ‘K’.”

“What?”

“For her name,” Matt said simply. “You said you mom’s name was Ekaterina.”

Vladimir hummed in thought, noting how Matt in fact did say his mother's name completely correctly which further drove to home the fact that Matt did sometimes purposefully say his name mildly wrong. That was unimportant at the moment though. It was a nice sentiment, naming the little girl after his mother. But ultimately Vladimir shook his head adamantly. He thought of a different woman, also named Catherine. And he thought of mistakes he’d made. He thought of Nick. He wanted to never repeat those mistakes. He didn't want to live with hearing that name and thinking of the things he'd done.

“No.”


	2. "Stop."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Matt's been beat up as Daredevil and Vladimir is far from pleased about it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You can't tell me that this conversation wouldn't come up between the two of them.

** _One week later  
_ ** They’re in the living room a week later, the dog lying under the coffee table and watching them pitifully. She doesn’t fully understand what’s happening, just knows that Matt is bleeding and Vladimir is angry. 

Matt nearly hisses as Vladimir not so gently cleans a wound on the side of his head. His sharp intake of breath makes Vladimir press just a tad harder on the wound. 

Matt waved Vladimir’s hands away from his face, snatched the cloth from Vladimir’s hands, and snapped out, “You’re doing that on purpose, you  _ asshole _ ,” as he began to clean his face himself.

Vladimir just clicked his tongue and gave Matt a look. “Of course. You deserve it after being idiot and almost getting killed,” he said simply, snatching the cloth back from Matt and pressing it just as roughly as before to the cut on his face. “Now hold still and stop bitching.”

“I didn’t almost die and I am not bitching.”

A scoff from Vladimir before he pressed the cloth more gently to the cut on Matt’s head. The silence that stretched between them was almost awkward and before Matt could open his mouth to ask what was the problem, Vladimir was beating him to it with a question of his own..

“What are you going to do when we have this child here?” His accent growing thicker in his rush to get the question out.

Matt frowned, brows furrowed in confusion. “I- what are you talking about?”

Vladimir paused. This was a topic the two hadn’t touched before and he knew it could end badly really quickly but it was also something they  _ had _ to talk about. And he’d already started the conversation and he was no quitter, so he shoved ahead.

“You cannot keep going out as superhero with baby here,” Vladimir finally stated bluntly.

As expected, Matt tensed, jaw clenching as he asked simply, “Why?”

Logically, Matt knew it was a bad idea to continue being a vigilante hero while having a child. But he also knew how to keep that life from colliding with his home, personal, life. Now anyway. For the most part.

He wouldn’t even be the first or last hero to continue with the hero life while being a parent. Luke and Jessica had their toddler, Danielle. Danny and Misty with Lucille. Sam and Bucky had three children, had adopted just like he and Vladimir were in the process of doing, and still went on missions together or with their team. Natasha and Yelena had little Nika. The list was ongoing.

But Vladimir didn’t see it this way. He saw a possibility that he’d give anything to keep as far away from their lives as he could. 

“What will we do when you leave us?” Vladimir asks slowly, dabbing a tad more gently at Matt’s face. 

Matt frowned in confusion. “What are you talking about? I’m not going anywhere?”

Vladimir snorted and stood up. “Am sure that my father thought the same thing,” he muttered. When Matt said nothing, because he didn’t know what to say, Vladimir continued on with, “I am sure that your father thought the same thing too." It's a low blow but Vladimir doesn't stop, just pushes forward. "And neither came home. And their son’s had shitty lives growing up. So what is going to happen to this child when you do not come home one night because you are too busy playing super hero, Matthew?”

As soon as the words were said Matt scowled and shoved himself to a standing position. Matt looked ready to fight and it took all of Vladimir’s will power to just stand and stare blankly at Matt. 

“You will go out one night,” Vladimir began, “and you will get hurt. Badly.” He’s seen Matt hurt before. Didn’t like it. Didn’t want it to happen. “Or, you will just not come home one night. You will make me have to tell this little girl that you are not coming home ever again and then I have to tell her  _ why  _ you are not.” He states it all as fact, not to hurt Matt but to make sure he knew what Vladimir saw for their future. “Stop being Daredevil.”

Matt glares coldly, fists clenched so hard that his knuckles are stark white and he’s shaking. “Shut up,” he spits out. 

Vladimir narrows his eyes but says nothing as Matt storms to their bedroom. Zvezdochka comes out from under the coffee table, whining softly as she takes two steps after Matt. She changes her mind and goes to Vladimir instead, nudging his hip with her head. He always calmed down when he was petting her. 

Vladimir scowls after Matt but lets the subject drop for now, not in the mood for a physical argument because that's how this argument would progress and he knows it and knowing that since he’s brought this topic up it will be discussed further at a later date. He’ll make sure of that.

He glances down into Zvezdochka’s brown eyes and sighs as he continues to pet her before scratching her behind the ears. He wonders for a moment how she’ll take to having a child in the apartment full time.


	3. Practice makes perfect.

** _September, 2018  
_ ** “Isänmesez,” Vladimir stated, staring at his cellphone screen. He frowned. He felt as though he’d pronounced the word wrong. “Isänmesez,” he said again, slower this time. “Isänmesez.”

He reached down to pet Zvezdochka. “Balam. Isänmesez, balam. Stupid…” He muttered. He really didn’t care to say  _ ‘hello’  _ in Tatar. Out of all of the words he was trying to memorise,  _ isänmesez _ felt the most difficult for some reason or another. He couldn't help but feel miffed that he was having trouble on such an easy word. He knew French and English as well as his native Russian. One more language shouldn't feel so difficult he felt.

Vladimir thought about Matt and how they were going to be flying out to Kazan in just a couple more weeks. He thought about the little girl. 

He tried again.

“Balabüz, Märyäm.” Then scoffed, locking his phone and slipping it into his back pocket. “ _ Such a stupid name _ …” When Zvezdochka barked he took it as her agreeing with him.

A glance to the time and he frowned. Matt was out late as Daredevil. It was too late to go over next door to his brother’s apartment. At two in the morning, Vladimir fully expected for Anatoly and Shauna both to be asleep what with having a one and three year old running around all day, the two brunettes were exhausted most days.

Vladimir went back to practicing Tatar. “Isänmesez. Min sine yaratam. Märyäm.”


	4. "Interior decorating is my passion."

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Matt and Vladimir realize they have no idea how to decorate their daughter's nursery and so must call upon the only person they can trust with this very important and difficult task.  
Elektra Natchios.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Claire and Elektra are a couple by this point as this is set quite a good amount of months after 'My love I'll hold you as high as the stars.' Ravdí is their daughter.

**_October, 2018_  
_Hell's Kitchen, NY_  
_ The Ranskahov-Murdock household_  
**Both men grunted as they shoved the last box out of the now empty bedroom. The bedroom that had been home to all of Vladimir’s and Matt’s junk but was now in the process of being turned into Märyäm’s bedroom. 

Matt wiped the beading sweat from his forehead. “So… I have no idea how we should decorate the room for her.”

Vladimir groaned then let out a quiet ‘oof’ sound as his body hit the floor. He now sat in the hall, staring into the empty bedroom. “Me either.”

“How ‘bout Carol?” Matt asked suddenly. “For her name?”

Vladimir snorted. “No.” He blinked as he stared straight ahead.

“You could toss some names back and forth with me, you know,” Matt retorted simply. This easy banter was becoming more like a game to him now. He wondered how long before Vladimir would indeed toss a name out. “Tatiana?”

Vladimir scowled at Matt playfully. “No. Stop talking.” He turned his attention back to the now empty bedroom and hummed in thought.

In truth though, neither man had thought too much into how they were going to decorate the room for the toddler. They just knew they really needed to clear their junk from the space so it could be hers. 

“You know who made really good room for their baby?” Vladimir stated suddenly.

“Elektra,” both said at the same time. 

**~oOo~**

** _An hour later  
_ **Elektra didn’t even knock on the door, just opened it and walked right in as if she owned the apartment with little Ravdí in her arms and Claire trailing behind her in amusement, Ravdí’s baby bag slung over her left shoulder. Zvezdochka barked and jumped off the couch, tail wagging as she took in the familiar guests. 

“Where is the room?!” Elektra asked, dramatically taking off her sunglasses and taking off her heels; taking off her shoes upon entering a home had been something she’d done before being adopted by the Natchios family and it continued to be something she still habitually did even now.

Matt rolled his eyes but gestured down the hall. “You know you could knock, right?”

Elektra waved his words away. “Oh hush now, Matthew. I’m about to perform _ art _!” She handed him Ravdí and continued walking in the direction he’d pointed her. “Besides, if you didn’t want me to just come in like this you two would have locked your door.”

Clair gave a sympathetic smile to Matt. “Sorry. You know how she is.”

Matt grinned. “Yeah.” He tickled Ravdí and grinned even wider when she giggled and kicked her pudgy little legs, and then practically threw herself in Matt’s arms so that she was reaching out for Claire. 

Claire reacted instinctively, stepping forward in a rush and holding her arms out in order to catch her. She sighed in relief as she realized that Matt was indeed still holding her and that Ravdí was perfectly safe. “Sorry. Habit. She’s gotten into this thing of just throwing herself around lately.”

Vladimir raised an eyebrow. “Hopefully our brat doesn’t do that. Is bad enough with Motya throwing himself off buildings.”

Matt made a face at Vladimir’s general direction before handing Ravdí over to Claire. “I do not throw myself off buildings.”

“It’s called jumping, do try and keep up, Vlad,” Elektra teased, patting Vladimir’s cheek. She was the only one who could truly get away with calling him that and she made sure to do it whenever the opportunity arose. For what was the point if she couldn’t get just a bit of a rise from him?

Vladimir scowled at them both, swatting Elektra’s hand away from his cheek. Ravdí squealed as Zvezdochka walked circles around her and Claire. 

“Dog! Doggie!” Ravdí squealed, leaned back in an attempt to pet Zvezdochka on the head. She squirmed, and if Claire weren’t so used to the toddler constantly squirming she would have dropped her, as Zvezdochka pressed her cold nose to her forehead then walked one more circle around them before trotting over to Vladimir. 

Claire beamed at her. “That’s right! Doggie!” She turned to give Matt a grin, “We’re working on trying to get her to say small sentences. She just gives one word responses right.”

“Cute,” Matt cooed, reaching out and tickling Ravdí’s foot.

“Now, anyway, have you two chosen colors for the nursery?” Elektra asked, turning everyone’s, but her daughter’s, attention back to why she was called their in the first place. 

Vladimir looked over at Matt, practically begging for Matt to pick a random color.

While Matt seemed to be able to practically feel not only Vladimir’s but Elektsa and Claire’s eyes on him. He shook his head and held his hands up in surrender. “Oh no. Don’t look at me, it’s not like I’ll ever see it.”

“Good job in making this rather sad all of a sudden. Anyway!” Elektra turned her attention to Vladimir. “Pick a color.”

“Uhm…”

“Three.”

“What?” He felt as though a lot of pressure were thrust upon him suddenly and he wasn’t sure what to do or say.

“Two.” Elektra looked at her nails. She needed a manicure. 

Vladimir’s eyes widened as he panicked every so much. “Wait! I cannot-”

“One.” At the same time that she said one Vladimir finally nervously shouted, “Gray?!”

Elektra hummed for just a moment before nodding in approval. “Good choice. I approve.”

Ravdí giggled. “Good choice! Good choice!”

Both women grinned warmly at her and Elektra nodded once more, this time to the little girl. 

“That's right, lígo elaiólado, gray is a _ very _good choice!” She turned back to face the bedroom. “Hm. Kind of a big room…” Elektra said, walking around the rather spacious room. She grimaced at the peeling paint at the top of the walls. “Oh this is going to need so much love and care.”

She turned and made her way to the dining room. “Matthew, I need your laptop! Vladimir! Your credit card!”

Nearly half an hour later and Elektra sighed out, “This has been such hard work-,” Matt raised an eyebrow, not even surprised by her dramaticness, “-but once all of this comes in be sure to text me. Well. After you put it all together. I have the bed being shipped from Ikea. In Sweden.”

Claire nearly laughed but quickly covered it with a cough. She could already imagine Vladimir’s pure annoyance as he tried to put together the furniture Elektra had picked out. Knowing the other woman, Claire was willing to bet that _ all _of the furniture was from Ikea.

“And you,” she pointed to Vladimir with a very serious expression on her face. “Be sure to buy _ cream _ paint for the walls. Not _ beige _ . Not _ ivory _ . And if you fuck it up and buy pure white, save me the trouble of murdering you and go straight back to Red Square. _ Cream _ . _ Colored _ . _ Paint _.” Each word was accented with a harsh jab to the center of his chest.

Vladimir frowned while Matt and Claire snickered from the living room. “Alright…”

Elektra nodded in approval. “Good. Now, onto more important business, I’m hungry. What’s for dinner?” She blinked as the other three adults stared at her in. “What? I’m hungry and I’ve been working. This is tiring. And you’re not paying me! The least you could do is buy us dinner!”

“What an annoying house guest you are,” Vladimir muttered.


	5. A matter of time.

**** _October, 2018  
_ _ **Nelson & Murdock** _   
_ **Hell's Kitchen, NY** _   
There was a knock on his office door that Matt just barely heard over the Russian music he was listening to. He’d attempted learning Tatar but it was much more difficult than Russian t and though he still made several mistakes he was improving rapidly in Russian; Tatar, not so much.

“What’s up, Karen?” He asked, pulling one earbud from his ear and pausing the music.

The scent of Karen’s floral perfume became much stronger as she opened the door and stepped into his office. “Hey, you working late tonight? Foggy and I are about to head out.”

Matt quickly felt his watch and frowned slightly. He’d completely lost track of the time. “No, I’m not working late,” he said, closing his laptop and unplugging his earbuds. “I’m thinking about going straight home tonight actually.”

“Oh really?” Karen asked teasingly, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed. 

He laughed. “Yeah. Danny and Luke are defending the city tonight while Misty and Jessica have girl’s night with Lucy and Dani. Vladimir and I are going to eat cheap Chinese and do more paperwork.”

Karen grinned. “Paperwork for little Mary?” She cooed out excitedly. 

Matt could imagine her grinning widely. Aside from him and Vladimir, and Anatoly, Foggy, Shauna, and Sister Maggie of course, Karen was most excited to meet the little toddler. 

She’d nicknamed Märyäm ‘little Marry’ a week after Matt and Vladimir had begun the adoption process. She’d said the name once in front of Vladimir and only once. He’d groaned and snapped at her, “Do  _ not _ call her that! You get attached to the name and her name is stupid! We are changing it!” Personally, Karen agreed with Matt, the name was beautiful and she didn’t want it to be changed. But she knew Märyäm was going to be Matt and Vladimir’s child and so kept her opinion to herself. 

Though she refused to quit calling her ‘little Mary’ to Matt. 

Foggy came out of his personal office and closed the door behind him at that moment and perked up.

“Speaking of the little bean, when are you two leaving to meet her?” He asked, moving to stand beside Karen. 

Matt laughed as he slid his laptop into his briefcase. “One more week. Well,” he touched his watch once more before continuing, “eight days and five and a half hours to be exact. We’re leaving at eleven at night.”

“Not that you’re keeping count at all,” Foggy teased lightly.

Matt grinned. “Not at all.” 

A pause and another touch to his watch. “Eight days, five hours, and 29 minutes.”

All three laughed that time.


	6. Babysitting the nephews

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Vladimir and Matt take a small break from paperwork and babysit their nephews. Something that Anatoly and Shauna are truly grateful for as they need a date night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shauna, Toly, and Andrey are gangstertogangster's ocs and I love them immensely.

**** _October, 2018  
_ **** _The Riley-Ranskahov household  
_ ** _Hell’s Kitchen, NY  
_ ** Vladimir frowned as his sister-in-law Shauna ran over a list of rules and regulations for her sons. Nodded along as she wrote down a list of extra contact numbers just in case he couldn’t reach her or Anatoly if anything went wrong with the boys. He and Matt were taking just the smallest of breaks from paperwork and waiting to hear back about their adoption process and had offered to babysit for the night. Something that his brother and sister-in-law had jumped on quickly as they really needed a break from their children.

Though, currently neither were really acting like they wanted to leave their children. Vladimir summed it up to nerves. 

“No t.v. after eight,” Shauna stated, handing her three year old son a bottle of juice, her youngest son in her arms. “Andrey goes down for bedtime around six usually. He likes to sleep. If he’s being super fussy he can stay awake until seven. It’ll wear him out. He’s typically pretty good about bedtime though.” She handed Andrey over to Matt and frowned worriedly as Andrey whinned and reached for her.

Andrey was a mama’s boy; he particularly loved to be held by Shauna and she loved cuddling him. It was cute.

Shauna turned her attention back to Vladimir. “Toly has to eat all of his vegetables before he can have dessert.” She promptly ignored her son’s whine of not wanting veggies. “There are pudding cups in the fridge or he can have one popsicle.”

Now she turned to face Anatoly and gave him a worried look. “Did I forget about anything, Tol?”

Anatoly thought for a moment. Then shook his head. “No, I think you got everything, malyshka. Come here Tolyushka!” He scooped his eldest son into a hug and squeezed him softly, grinning as the toddler laughed. “Be good for Dyadya Vova and Matvey, yes?”

Toly nodded. “I will be very good!” He promised.

Anatoly grinned. “I do not believe you, solnyshko!” He kissed his son on the top of the head quickly before putting him down. Toly giggled and ran off to the living room to pull out some race cars to play with. He wanted to show them to his uncle.

Anatoly took Andrey from Matt and gave the baby a quick kiss on the head before handing him over to Shauna. He watched her with a warm look as she cooed at Andrey and gave him several quick kisses. 

“If you need to call us for anything, do not hesitate,” Anatoly said suddenly. “We can come home.”

Shauna nodded quickly. As much as both wanted some time together without their children around they were very hesitant to leave them behind, even if it was with Vladimir and Matt. 

Matt just grinned. “Don’t worry about it. They’re little kids. I think we can handle it. We’ve babysat Dani and Lucy before.”

Vladimir made a face at the mention of the two girls' names. Lucy and Dani were adorable little children but goodness were they a handful!

Anatoly smiled slightly but Shauna still looked unsure.

Shauna handed little Andrey over to Vladimir. “Just be sure to feed them. If you need anything or have any questions you have our numbers. And-”

“We have got this, you crazy psycho woman,” Vladimir interrupted with an eye roll as he bounced the one year old. Andrey giggled in his arms and Vladimir beamed with pride. 

His sister-in-law scowled at him and quickly flipped him off. “Fuck you, Vladimir. Fuck you.”

Anatoly sighed, quickly covering his eyes with one hand while Matt just stared in Shauna and Vladimir’s direction, jaw dropped in shock.

“Seriously? In front of the children?” Matt asked.

Anatoly shrugged tiredly. “They are going to have problem with swearing when they are older,” Anatoly stated simply, already knowing this to be fact and just hoping that it wouldn’t be.

**~oOo~**

** _Two hours later_ **   
The little boys were a handful and Vladimir could more than understand why his brother and sister-in-law always seemed so tired. Toly had a lot of energy. And when Vladimir thought a lot, he meant  _ a lot _ . Toly also liked to talk a lot.

Vladimir was sitting on the couch, staring wide eyed at the carpet and rubbing his temples as Toly continued talking to him rapidly, holding up toys then dropping them and dashing to his room to get another to show to Vladimir. It wasn’t that Vladimir was disinterested in his nephew, quite the opposite actually as he truly did adore the little boys, but Toly was just so hyper. Toly had this habit it seemed where his brain worked quicker than his mouth could spit out the words he wanted to say and it caused for the boy to say the first half of a sentence two or three times before finishing in a rush.

Andrey was just as loud just in a different sense. He seemed to always be whining and it was beginning to give Vladimir a headache. A glance over to his boyfriend and Vladimir saw that Matt was beginning to look just as exhausted as Vladimir felt. 

Matt bounced Andrey in his arms, rubbed soothing circles into his back, and cooed at him, hoping beyond hope that it would calm Andrey down. All of this was done in vain it seemed as Andrey continued to whine in his arms. Matt was beginning to feel at his wits end. Andrey clung to him tightly, so Matt continued to hold him. He wasn’t hungry. He didn’t want juice or milk. He just felt like being fussy.

Toly suddenly turned his attention to Matt and Andrey and frowned in disapproval. “Maybe Andrey wants to play with me!” He ran over to Matt and jumped up and down, arms reaching for Andrey. “I! I want! I want to play blocks with Andrey!”

Vladimir perked up suddenly. “That is great idea, Tolyasha! Motya, let Andreika play with Tolyasha.”

Matt gently placed Andrey on the floor and the baby immediately began to whimper and whine loudly, grabbing onto Matt’s pants leg and hopping slightly. Toly wasted no time in taking his brother’s hand into his own and pulling him to their bedroom. 

“Come on, Andrey! Let’s! Let’s go play blocks!”

Andrey had little choice but to follow his brother, though he didn’t seem to be too upset about it. It didn’t take long before Matt was listening to them playing together, Toly doing all of the talking and making up a grand story as they built a tower of blocks.

Matt went over and plopped himself down on the couch beside Vladimir. He tilted his head slightly, a tired grin on his face, and said, “They’re cute.”

Vladimir snorted but grinned back just as tiredly. “They have their moments. I do not see how Tolya and Shauna manage with them.”

Both men laughed. It truly was a wonder how Shauna and Anatoly had the patience for their small children as both adults often had short tempers.

Vladimir yawned and thought about his own childhood for a moment. About how Anatoly had always played with him. How he’d read stories to him and taught Vladimir ballet moves. He hadn’t always been perfectly patient but he’d tried his best and Vladimir wondered what their lives would have been like had Anatoly not gone to work in St. Petersburg and left Vladimir in Moscow. 

“Actually, Tolik was always good with children.”

Matt smiled sadly and squeezed Vladimir’s knee comfortingly, seemingly knowing where his boyfriend’s train of thought was.

“At least Toly and Andrey ate all of their dinner without fuss,” Matt said, changing the topic back to the boys. “I was expecting a lot more trouble from them with the way that Shauna was talking about it.”

Vladimir rolled his eyes. “They show off for you. Whenever I babysit them alone they are evil. Hate eating their vegetables and fruit.”

Matt laughed.

**~oOo~**

** _Three hours later  
_ ** The boys were finally both sleeping soundly so Vladimir and Matt took this opportunity to straighten the living and dining room as well as the kitchen back up. Toly’s toys littered the living room floor. Andrey had brought a coloring book and markers out to Matt but ultimately had just scribbled in the book for a few minutes before leaving the markers and book on the floor.

So Vladimir tackled cleaning the living room while Matt tackled the dirty dishes left in the sink. Matt had no problem with doing the dishes that Anatoly and Shauna had left before leaving for their date, he completely understood them being too busy and forgetting about the dishes. 

Dinner had been simple, chicken nuggets with green beans and mac n cheese and so it wasn’t very difficult to clean the kitchen and make it presentable. Matt just didn’t know where all of the clean dishes went and so left them stacked neatly on the counter.

Matt perked up suddenly as he heard Anatoly and Shauna’s voices down the hall. The couple didn’t have time to pull their keys out before Matt was unlocking and opening the door for them. 

Shauna gasped softly as the door was opened. She still wasn’t used to Matt’s heightened senses and so had not been expecting for the door to open so suddenly.

“So how was your night?” Matt asked, moving out of the way so they could enter their home easily.

Anatoly grinned, rubbing Shauna’s lower back soothingly to ease her startlement. “It was good. We went to bar-”

“Really? That’s what you do for romantic date?” Vladimir asked dryly.

Anatoly rolled his eyes but didn’t stop talking. “Had bar food. Beers. Played pool. Shauna is master at pool!”

Shauna blew on her finger nails and brushed them against her shirt. “Not to brag or anything. Though, I will admit, I was surprised that you didn’t call or text us. Anatoly was worrying.”

Anatoly made an appalled noise, flushing slightly in embarrassment, but didn’t deny it.

“We told you we had this,” Matt said only mildly upset at the lack of faith and trust the couple seemingly had. “We know what we’re doing.”

Shauna placed her hand over her heart. “Oh, Matt, we had complete and utter trust and faith in you,” she said comfortingly, while giving Vladimir a pointed look. 

One to which the blonde gasped and scoffed out, “What?!”

Shauna didn’t stop giving him a dry look as she stated matter of factly, “The last time you babysat the boys, Toly was stuck in the trash can for an hour and you had to call me for help.”

Matt snorted, eyes closing as he breathed out, “Dear Jesus. And I’m adopting a child with you...”

Anatoly and Shauna laughed softly as Vladimir gaped at Matt in shock at the apparent betrayal. Before the conversation could escalate Anatoly hummed in surprise as he finally took in his surroundings. The apartment was much cleaner now.

“You two should just move in. You cleaned so nicely!” He said, staring at the toy chest in the corner of the living room that was now full of the toys that had once littered the floor. He knew that come morning, little hurricane Toly would wreck havoc amongst the apartment again but that didn’t stop him from fully appreciating how clean and organized his house was at that moment. “We will pay you to clean our home,” Anatoly offered, only half joking.

Shauna nodded enthusiastically.

Vladimir rolled his eyes. “No chance in Hell,” he said as Matt snorted a laugh.


	7. Flying

** _October, 2018  
_ ** “Do you have everything?” Matt asked for the tenth time, feeling his watch and breathing an anxious sigh. He shooed Zvezdochka off the bed, making a face as he did so. He hated for her to be on the bed since she shed a good amount and it was next to impossible to get the fur as well as the smell of her fully out of the sheets.

Not that the dog even cared about his discomfort. She just huffed loudly but jumped off and stretched on the floor, yawning audibly. 

Vladimir rolled his eyes. “Yes. For the hundredth time!”

Matt scowled at Vladimir’s general direction. “Well the last time I asked you forgot the toothpaste. And the time before that you forgot you needed to pack more than two pairs of pants. And the time before that you forgot-“

“I get it!” Vladimir interrupted. He begrudgingly unzipped his suitcase and checked through it once more before standing and heading to the bathroom, cursing under his breath in Russian as he realized Matt was correct. He’d forgotten soap.

Once he was back in their bedroom and the bodywash had been tossed into his bag Matt asked, “Your brother is watching the dog?”

Vladimir nodded. “Da,” he snickered. “Tolik is not pleased about it though. Shauna is more happy and trying to convince him to let Zvezdochka into the apartment but he is afraid she will torment Valentina and Ugolyok which is complete shit because Zvezdochka is good girl,” he leaned down to pet her with both hands, scratching behind her ears and cooing at her in Russian,  _ “Aren’t you? Yes, yes, you are! Good girl, Zvezdochka! _ ”

Zvezdochka wagged her tail, sitting down and closing her eyes happily before barking. 

Matt rolled his eyes fondly. Sometimes, without meaning to be, Vladimir was just… downright adorable. It was still surprising to Matt oftentimes. 

He felt his watch once more and frowned. They really needed to get ready to go soon. They were to be meeting Natasha and Yelena at the airport in forty minutes. Clint was babysitting their young daughter while the assassins were in Russia.

“Hey, Vladimir.”

“Hm?” Vladimir hummed back, still giving Zvezdochka all of his attention. 

“We need to pick something to bring her too. And we have to get ready to go.”

Vladimir frowned but nodded. “Da. … what should we bring her?”

Matt shrugged but walked across the hall to what would soon be her bedroom. “I’m not sure.”

In the closet were several plastic shopping bags, all completely full of stuffed animals, mostly clothes, and other toys. Matt reached for one bag and began pulling items from it. 

A stuffed teddy bear. A dress. Socks. Another pack of socks. A little stuffed bird. The next bag had much of the same things but when he pulled a floppy stuffed bunny from the bag he froze before holding it up. 

“The rabbit?” He asked. 

Vladimir shrugged. “Is good as anything, yes?”

Matt nodded. “Should we bring her something else too? Clothes? More toys?”

Vladimir ran a hand through his hair as he shrugged once more. “I do not know. I… what is proper thing to do here? Just bring her the one toy? We can always buy her something there, Motenka.”

Matt nodded again. “Yeah. You’re right.”

His heart began racing in his chest and the only thing that alerted him to the fact that Vladimir was just as nervous as he was was that Vladimir’s heart was thundering away rapidly in his chest and his palms were getting sweaty. 

“Alright. Let’s start heading over to Manhattan Regional.”

“Da.”

**~oOo~**

** _Manhattan Regional Airport_ **   
“I am recording for the baby. You show her this video when she’s older. Now, how excited are you two?” Yelena asked, holding a camera up to record Matt and Vladimir’s reactions.

Currently the four adults were sitting, waiting to board their flight.

Vladimir made a face at her quickly before looking away. “Get that stupid thing out of my face, Lena.”

She rolled her eyes but turned to face Matt, shoving Vladimir out of the way completely and smirking as he fell over slightly. “How about you then, Matt? How excited are you?”

Matt grinned. “Extremely.” He folded then unfolded his cane nervously. He stopped when Natasha placed a comforting hand on his knee and squeezed softly. 

Yelena rolled her eyes; Matt and Vladimir were not cooperating as well as she’d hoped they would. During Nika’s adoption process she and Natasha had recorded each other many times. Clint recorded them leaving New York and meeting their daughter for the first time in Minsk. 

“Talk to her, idiots. What are we doing right now?”

Matt snickered, grinning widely. “We’re waiting in the airport, Manhattan Regional, and about to fly-” Vladimir snorted, “-to Kazan. This is going to be a really long flight. We are flying from here to Chicago and we’re going to have an overnight layover in Barcelona. So yeah, really long flight and this is my second time flying out of the country. But… we’re excited to meet you.” He paused and shook his head before whispering to Natasha, “This feels so awkward. We haven’t chosen a name for her yet.”

Natasha laughed softly. “It’s okay. The first few times Lenosha and I recorded for Nika we sounded like robots. Lenosha especially.” 

Yelena nodded, jerking the camera ever so slightly. “God, it was so hard-- do not say a word Vova.”

Vladimir held his hands up and Yelena turned to record him now. 

“So do you have anything to say to her?” 

Vladimir hummed in thought, facing straight ahead and not looking at the camera. “I have never been to Kazan before.» A lie; he’d been once before with Anatoly. “I do not know Tatar. So I hope you speak some Russian.” 

When the other three adults just gave him exasperated looks he shrugged. “What?”

Natasha was the first to respond. She shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Motivational words, Vladimir. She’s going to watch this so fondly when she’s older.” 

Vladimir nodded. “As she should.”

Matt snorted. “Dear lord…”

There was an announcement that their plane was ready to begin boarding so Natasha stood and picked up her duffel bag. 

“Alright. It’s time to begin boarding. Any last words to say before we leave Manhattan?” Yelena asked, picking up her suitcase carefully so as not to jostle the camera too much.

Matt shrugged, also standing now, “Not really? We’re just… excited. Nervous. Uhm. Time to go to Chicago.”

**~oOo~**

** _Barcelona, Spain, 2018  
_ ** “We have made it off of the plane and are now in a hotel,” Matt said, dropping his luggage on the floor beside the bed as Natasha held the camera up. “This feels a lot more real now. You know?” He asked Vladimir.

Vladimir nodded. “Da. We are so much closer to getting there. To seeing her. You?” He turned towards the camera. “I do not like this talking into the camera thing!” 

Yelena snickered at his awkwardness. “Just pretend the camera isn’t even here. Just talk.” She plopped herself onto the bed and kicked her legs slightly. “I am so hungry.”

“I do not see how! You ate all of my snacks! Matvey’s! And your own!” Vladimir snapped at her jokingly.

Yelena waved his comments away. “I am still hungry,” she said, thickening her accent purposefully, “It is like I am back in Mother Russia. I need food. This is worse than gulag!”

Vladimir smacked her knee lightly. “Shut the fuck up, Lena!”

Matt shook his head at their shenanigans. “Alright, let’s go find food.” He picked his cane up from where he’d placed it on the bed and unfolded it. “This is also exciting. I have never been to Spain. When I flew to Moscow I got to stay in London for a few hours.”

Natasha hummed in thought. “I prefer Barcelona to London personally.”

“Barcelona hasn’t got shit on Poltava,” Yelena tossed back, eyes shining as she thought about Ukraine. She loved Moscow and she loved Kiev even more, it was her home city so how could she not, but she’d always loved visiting Poltava in the summer with her parents. 

Vladimir shrugged. “I just love wherever I can go where I won’t be shot at.” He turned quickly to face Natasha, eyes wide and mouth slightly open. “Edit that out!”

“Oh, no. Not a single chance in hell,” Natasha smirked. She turned the camera to face herself, “You’re going to have so much fun living in Hell’s Kitchen. Your daddy is a superhero. Your papa is a gangster.”

“Tasha! Really!” Matt asked, raising his voice slightly but not really yelling.

Yelena rolled her eyes. “Why are you two crying? You won’t show her this until she’s a teenager and by that point she should already know these things about you two.”

There was merit in what she was saying, of course, but Vladimir covered his face and groaned nonetheless. 

“Alright, come on. Let’s go eat. I am hungry since  _ somebody  _ ate my snacks on the plane!” Vladimir yelled, giving Yelena an annoyed look. When she just held a thumbs up at him, he shoved her over, cackling as she yelped and fell off the bed.

She didn’t give him much time to gloat before she was bringing him to the floor and smacking his face repeatedly with a pillow.


	8. Meeting Märyäm

**_A few days later_  
Kazan, Tatarstan  
October, 2018  
** Vladimir and Matt walked side by side, Matt with his cane tapping the ground before them even as Vladimir led him carefully. There were leaving the car, their social worker talking in heavily accented English about the orphanage, the children, the paperwork, the upcoming court dates they’d have if everything continued going smoothly.

Matt thought her accent was very interesting, kind of like Vladimir’s own but different. Laced with another hint of an accent.

Vladimir paused as they were now just a few steps away from the orphanage. The building was large but what stood out to him were the doors painted a bright green.

“This is it,” Matt whispered, squeezing Vladimir’s hand.

Vladimir squeezed back but didn’t stop. “Da. This is it.”

**~oOo~**

“Sälam.” A very young toddler says after being prompted, waving her hand before ducking back behind the social worker’s leg. She was shy, not even two years old yet, and these new people in front of her, staring at her, were making her uncomfortable. She’d rather go back and play with the other children. But the adults seem fairly keen on keeping her with them.

She doesn’t understand what’s happening and so ignores as the social workers try to nudge her to go to the new people, two men. One was brunette, the other blonde.

“Isanmesaz. Helleregez nischek?” Vladimir asks, words spilling and sounding terrible to his own ears. He doesn’t think he’s pronounced them correctly at all and judging by the looks he’s receiving from the social workers and Natasha, he’s guessed properly.

He isn’t even surprised that Natasha knows Tatar; Natasha knows everything. 

But it does the job of making the tiny toddler look out from behind the social worker. She takes one step away from the social worker, closer to him and Matt. Much to Matt’s pure joy.

She thinks he sounds funny, she likes the way his words aren’t correct, and smiled shyly up at him.

This is all the encouragement Vladimir needs. He crouches down so that he’s nearly eye level to the child, and says slowly, “İsímím uh Vladimir. Uh, Papa,” he taps on his chest as he introduces himself. Then slowly points up to Matt. “Daddy.

He can't help but to feel awkward and he wonders for just one fleeting moment about how Nick's adoption went. If his parents had tried to learn Russian as he was trying to learn Tatar. He thinks maybe he'll ask. If he can force his own awkwardness away.

Little Märyäm starts speaking quickly, bringing him quickly from his melancholic thoughts and back to the present, clapping her hands together loudly in her excitement. And Vladimir and Matt can’t understand her at all. But her joy is contagious and they both begin grinning at her. Matt slowly crouched down beside Vladimir, nervous and excited at finally meeting the toddler that they’d been in the process of adopting for a couple of months now.

Natasha and Yelena stay to the side, Yelena recording them meeting the toddler. She couldn’t help but smile softly as she watched the scene play out before here. It reminded her of her and Natasha first meeting their little Nika. 

“Min sine yaratam,” Vladimir says clumsily, pointing to himself then to her. He feels more awkward to say these words.

Natasha gives the back of his head a warm look, a small smile on her lips, as he says the words.

Märyäm lets out a loud noise that they aren’t fully sure how to describe as it’s squealing, nearly screaming really, mixed with a laugh and then she rushes to stand in front of them. Vladimir glances out of the corner of his eye to see Matt grinning widely and can’t help but feel happiness spread through his being. Seeing Matt happy always made him happy.

“İsímígíz niçík?” Vladimir asks, already knowing the answer but still wanting to give her the chance to speak and though he was still trying to speak Tatar he felt as though he were failing horribly.

But again the young child claps her hands happily and she hops in spot as she proudly states, “İsímím Märyäm!” And then she begins speaking quicker and Vladimir is looking up at the social workers, completely lost. While the little girl holds up two fingers, seemingly telling them her age; she’s wrong though but close enough Vladimir supposes, her birthday isn’t for one more month. She reaches out and hops, wanting to be picked up.

And since Matt was closer to her and dying to hold her, he quickly scooped her up into his arms and held her tightly, laughing out quietly, “What did she say?”

Vladimir makes a face but stood as well. “Said her name is Märyäm.”

Matt grins, hugs her tighter as she continues to babble away. “I love it.” Vladimir is well aware. “I think it’s pretty.”

Vladimir made a face, nose wrinkling and eyes narrowing slightly as he thought for a moment. Then he shrugged. “We will think of something better. Is ugly name. I do not like it.” He ignores the looks from the social workers and instead reaches over when he sees the child making grabbing hand motions at him now and Matt lets him take the child.

She has deep brown eyes and auburn hair that oddly enough matches Matt’s exact shade; the reason he’d stopped on her file in the first place. She’s cute, Vladimir will give her that. But he’s still not sure about this adoption thing. Still not sure he and Matt are doing the right thing.

It’s a terrifying step to take. 

He’s surprised at how much she likes them already though. Surprised and very happy.

“Min sine yaratam,” the little girl says happily, grinning at him then looking back to Matt. “Min sine yaratam!” She claps her hands, does that little scream-squeal-laugh once more, then rests her head on Vladimir’s shoulder.

Vladimir slowly hugs her, an odd feeling that he isn’t sure what to call begins to spread in his chest.

“What’d she say? She sounded happy?” Matt asked, confused but excited as he tries once more to make the new language stay with him. He vaguely remembers learning this very phrase but it’s translation isn’t forming in his mind and he wants to know everything she says. 

Vladimir says nothing for a few moments, just pets over the little girl’s hair. Then finally, “She says she loves us.” He’s thankful he doesn’t choke up like he feels he may. 

An hour later would find them in a playroom. Märyäm is a hyper little child, not very surprising since she is a toddler after all, and she really likes the stuffed bunny that Vladimir and Matt give her. Yelena grinned as she captured the moment on camera.

Matt grinned, sitting criss-cross-applesauce, as Märyäm played with her new floppy stuffed bunny and babbled quickly in Tatar to him.

“Bü rékim!” She said happily, hugging the bunny close and kissing it loudly on the head.

“What’d she say?” Matt asked, smiling when she climbed into his lap and continued babbling away. Matt wasn’t sure if she was talking more to him or her new toy but he liked the way she sounded. Happy and voice light. She giggled a lot. He imagined she had a bright smile.

Vladimir shrugged, unsure himself. 

Natasha was the one to answer before their social worker. “She says the bunny is cute.” 

“Bü rékim,” Matt repeated the words softly.

Märyäm grinned up at him and did that squeal-laugh that made Matt and Vladimir both smile at her. She looked over at Vladimir and slowly stood from Matt’s lap to go stand in front of Vladimir. “Min yaratam bü!”

Vladimir nodded seriously. “Khoroshiy,” he said. He was curious how she would react to Russian since she hadn’t spoken a word of it since meeting her.

“Khoroshiy,” Märyäm said slowly, curious. The word sounded familiar but she didn’t know what it meant. 

“Äybät,” the nurse translated for the child from across the room and the little girl made an ‘ooh’ noise. “We have only recently begun teaching her Russian. She only knows basics.”

Vladimir nodded, impressed with how smart the little girl was. He reached out and gently tickled her tummy, smiling softly as she squealed and held her bunny tightly to her chest before running back over to Matt and climbing into his lap. “She is going to be smart.”

When they had to leave Vladimir nearly just scooped Märyäm up and took her with them. ‘ _ Fuck waiting,’  _ he thought to himself. The little girl frowned and made grabby hand motions to them, dropping her bunny and leaving it on the floor an attempt to catch up to them.

Matt gripped Vladimir’s hand tightly in his own and Vladimir wasn’t sure if it was to stop him from scooping the little girl up or for Matt to stop himself from doing the same thing.

Matt slowly crouched down so that he was the same height as her. “Hey, baby, shh,” he whispered soothingly. He held his hand out and squeezed hers when she placed her much smaller hands into his. Märyäm gave a hard tug and whined in Tatar. “We’ll be back tomorrow. I promise.”

Märyäm shook her head, hair flying around her head as she did so.“Ûk!” She looked over at Vladimir with tears in her eyes and stomped her feet. “ Nyet!” Another hard tug to Matt’s hand. “Zhinhar!”

Vladimir felt his tug in that way it did when she said she loved them earlier. Protectively. 

Matt squeezed her hands again. Her heart was racing and she smelled like tears. It broke his heart. “We’ll be back tomorrow,” he tried to tell her, already knowing that she couldn’t understand him. “Volodya… do something.” 

Vladimir looked at Matt, mildly annoyed because _ what could he do aside from just taking her with them to the hotel? _ Instead he sighed and looked at their social worker. “Can you tell her that we will see her tomorrow? We will be here as early as we can be.”

The woman smiled sadly and nodded. She spoke gently to the little girl but Märyäm just burst into tears and began sobbing loudly. She didn’t understand why they were leaving after playing with her all day and telling her they loved her and hugging her. She didn’t want them to leave.

“Min sine yaratam!” She sobbed out, tears streaming down her face and tugging on Matt’s hands.

** ~oOo~**

** _Later that night  
_ ** Vladimir spit toothpaste into the sink. “I want to take her home already,” Vladimir admitted, staring at his reflection.

Matt sighed, already knowing who ‘her’ is. “Yeah,” he pulled the covers back on the bed, “Me too. I keep thinking about her crying.”

Vladimir scowled as he remembered the little girl’s face as she’d burst into tears, face turning blotchy red. He hated how long this process was. It’d been bad enough when it was just the paperwork but seeing her crying had made his chest ache in a protective way it only had with his brother and Matt’s safety on the line.

“Do you think if we ask Lenosha or Natasha they will help us kidnap her?” Vladimir asked, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. It wasn’t the best plan by any means as it was purely illegal but… it was a plan.

Before Matt could even do more than just give Vladimir a dry look, Yelena’s voice came from above them ominously. “Not a chance in hell, Vova.”

While Matt remained completely unfazed, Vladimir jumped and let out a yell. “How fucking long has she been up there, Motya?!” He hissed.

Matt smirked softly, the closest he’d gotten to a smile since they’d left the orphanage. “About twenty minutes.”

“Really?” Yelena asked surprised. “It felt like so much longer. You two are so boring to spy on.”

Vladimir glared up at the air vents where she was masterfully hidden. “Why the  _ fuck  _ are you spying on us?”

Yelena shrugged, not that either man could see though Matt did hear the rustling of fabric as she did. “We wanted to make sure that you two were alright. Leaving was very difficult. And you two didn’t say a word the whole way back.”

Vladimir frowned. The notion was sweet, that both women were just checking on them, but on the other hand… “‘We’? Is Natasha up there too?!”

Yelena scoffed. “Don’t be silly, Vova. Of course Natalia is not up here.”

“She’s outside the door,” Matt said, nodding his head towards the door. “You can come in now!”

So with an exaggerated sigh, Natasha did just that, easily unlocking the door and walking into the small room. Much to Vladimir’s great displeasure.

“You take all of the fun out of spying, Matt,” Natasha stated simply.

Vladimir rolled his eyes and leaned against the wall as Natasha shut the door. “You could just, you know, not spy on us!” He glared back up at the air vent. “Lena, get out from there!”

“No!” Lena snorted. 

Matt hummed in thought, a wicked smirk beginning to grow on his face. “Lena, do you want to know how spiders are up there with you?”

“Nyet!” 

**~oOo~**

** _Later, again_ ** ** _   
_ ** It takes Vladimir and Matt several hours of just lying in bed together, both thinking about the following morning. Matt hoped that Märyäm would forgive them for leaving. Vladimir thought about the consequences if he were to just scoop her up and leave with her and Matt.


	9. Meetin Märyäm, Pt II

** _Kazan, Tatarstan_ ** ** _   
_ ** ** _October, 2018_ **

The next morning found Matt and Vladimir back at the orphanage bright and early. Both had been nervous about whether or not Märyäm would want to be around them considering how she’d broken into tears the day before. But the moment she saw them she had begun hopping in her crib and reached out for them, squealing and babbling away.

Vladimir found her to be quite … adorable. Even with a pout on her chubby face and hair in disarray. She remembered them and wanted them to hold her and that coupled together made his heart do a flip in his chest that he hadn’t been expecting at all. 

One of the workers picked her up gently and handed her over to Vladimir, bypassing Matt’s slightly outstretched arms to do so. Both men noticed and Matt frowned but quickly ignored his own discomfort in order to hone in on Vladimir and Märyäm’s racing hearts.

“Privyet,” Vladimir said softly but also sounding far more serious than he needed to. He was clearly taking this whole thing very seriously. When Märyäm just blinked at him he hummed softly. “Isänmesez. Märyäm.”

She grinned at him. “Isänmesez,” she said, waving at him slowly. Then she was quickly babbling away and squeezing him tightly around the neck in a childish hug. Vladimir rubbed soothing circles on her back and nodded as she babbled away. He didn’t understand her, he doubted even the social workers did as the words she was babbling didn’t sound real, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was how happy she was. 

He looked over at Matt and felt his heart soften even more. “You want to go to Daddy?” Vladimir asked Märyäm. 

The little girl’s eyes widened as she heard and recognized the word  _ ‘daddy’ _ . Then she squealed shrilly, her customary scream-laugh-giggle thing, and clapped her hands.

Matt didn’t have to wait very long to hold her as the next thing he knew Vladimir was handing the little girl to him. Matt grinned widely as she clutched onto him tightly. “Isänmesez, honey. See, we told you we’d be back!”

Märyäm giggled, not understanding what he was saying but liking his smile and the way he said  _ hello  _ to her. She looked between the two men, slightly nervous like she’d been the day before. She was scared they were going to leave again. Märyäm rested her head on Matt’s shoulder and wrapped her small arms around Matt’s neck in a tight hug just as she’d done to Vladimir. When Matt began to pat down her hair she giggled and sat back up and stared at his red tinted glasses in curiosity.

She began to babble, not really finishing words or saying anything, just making noise in the place of actual words, and reached for his glasses, ignoring as the nurse and social workers tried to chide her.

Matt grinned and reached up to take his glasses off and handed them to her, laughing softly as she made a soft ‘ooh’ noise. He hoped she wouldn’t break the glasses but overall he didn’t care too much if she did as she was just curious and playing. Foggy had been wanting to buy him a new pair for over a month now as his current pair were tilted on his face ever so slightly. 

He turned to Vladimir. “What’s she look like right now?” 

Vladimir looked at the little girl and smiled softly. “Bad hair day,” he stated simply. And in truth, he wasn’t overly off the mark. Märyäm had just woken up and no one had brushed her shoulder length hair yet so it was sticking up funny in certain spots. “Her pants are red. White shirt with teddy bears on it.”

He reached over and softly tickled her, smirking as she laughed loudly and held onto Matt even tighter. As much as he was loathe to admit that Matt’s idea of adoption had been the right choice for them, the little girl was definitely growing on him.

Matt hummed and hugged Märyäm tightly. “She sounds adorable.”

Vladimir was inclined to agree.

Though the couple were spending the whole day with Märyäm, the day flew by much too quickly. And like the previous day, the little girl burst into tears as they were leaving. By the end of the fourth day, she seemed to realize that Matt and Vladimir would be back in the morning.

And as the days went by, Matt and Vladimir learned about the little girl they would be adopting.

She laughed easily. And every single time she laughed, she would squeal loudly while clapping her hands. Occasionally she’d hop in place. She loved stuffed animals and in fact hardly ever allowed the little stuffed bunny they’d gifted to her out of her arms. 

Little Märyäm liked ice-cream a lot, something they learned when they had decided to surprise the small orphanage with tubs of icecream for not just Märyäm but all of the children. Out of the Neapolitan flavors, Märyäm liked chocolate the most.

She didn’t like sharing. She was hesitant to allow even Matt or Vladimir to hold her bunny. The longest she’d allowed the stuffed toy to be out of her arms was barely even a minute. 

Both Matt and Vladimir completely understood and didn't take it personally. Vladimir waved off the caretaker and social worker's apologies for her behavior. She was young, much younger than either of them had been when they’d been in their orphanages, and like her, neither had been particularly fond of sharing while growing up in an orphanage. Nothing had ever seemed to belong to them when they were children. It was easy to understand how Märyäm fully believed that if she were to let her only possession out of her sight, she may not ever get it back.

Both men decided that that would be something they worked on once she was finally home with them.

She only said short sentences and random words in Tatar but spoke only four phrases in Russian;  _ privyet _ ,  _ kak dela, spasiba _ , and  _ poka _ . Vladimir wondered how much more she would know when they came to officially take her home their next visit.

Her favorite caretaker was a middle-aged woman named Elvirä Akhatova.

Elvirä was kind and spoiled little Märyäm. She’d sneak the young girl an extra treat with a sparkle of amusement in her eyes and put one finger over her lips as Vladimir would catch her, the universal sign of  _ ‘shh’ _ . She was the one who soothed the crying child down when Matt and Vladimir would leave. She was the one who dressed Märyäm and brushed her hair. 

Needless to say, Märyäm was quite attached to Elvirä. Matt and Vladimir found her to be quite kind and when the time came for their last visit they were thankful that Elvirä would be with Märyäm and just hoped that the little girl understood that they would be back for her soon.


End file.
